Breeza's Journey
by TartanLassie
Summary: A frequently recurring character in the world of Nippon, Breeza, God of travellers and children, makes her way from Agata Forest to Kamiki Village. But a menacing presence has other plans for her... (Set before Breeza's Disappointment)


**Deep In Agata Forest**

_Deep in Agata Forest there is a hill; under this hill is a sacred spring. The spring is called Hitoshio and is honoured by its surrounding residents. However, in the middle of the pool, on a small island, has always rested a large hollow tree stump. As far as anyone knew there had never been a tree, only the stump. If you were to stand on the edge of the pool on a clear night in summer, and gaze into the blue flowers under the stump, you might see Breeza no Akiyama, goddess of children and travellers, asleep and dreaming… But it's unlikely. She travels often, delivering messages for Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, and trying to heighten people's faith in the Gods. So she was never in one place for too long. You never know though…_

Breeza gazed like a star at the morning clouds. There were hardly any today, but she still enjoyed looking at them. They gave her peace of mind. It was early morning and she had been awake for a short time, crawling out from under the stump to stare at the sky. Earlier today she had cleared the little den of all her possessions. She never carted that much with her, just enough to keep herself alive and to defend herself if the need should ever arise. She also always carried sweets on her, in case she should run into a child and a spare blanket should ever meet a traveller in need. Her Hoshi no Tama she brought with her everywhere as it held her power when she was in human form.

Eventually bringing her thoughts to the present, she pulled herself up. She would have to get moving soon. Standing next to her beloved spring, her favourite place to rest, Breeza stretched her arms wide, yawned and started taking of her trousers. She stripped down to her purple kimono top, which fell just below her hips. Then, picking up her trousers, she waded into the spring. The water wasn't all that deep, but Breeza couldn't be sure how warm it was going to be and didn't want to risk travelling in wet clothes. Reaching the other side she put her pack down. Although not carrying much anyway, Breeza still lost things easily. She had lost her Peace Bell this week. A Peace Bell could protect her, to some extent, and make her journey much quicker and easier. It was unusual for Breeza to be up this far east. It wasn't that she liked being near the city in the south, it was just that people in the East were already strong believers in the Gods and they didn't often need Breeza appearance to strengthen it.

Knowing she had put off leaving her sanctuary too long already, Breeza picked everything up having a last rummage to see if she could find her invaluable Peace Bell. No result. Sighing, she turned and gave her den the once-over with her eyes. There was now not a trace she had ever been there, except perhaps the faint whiff of cherry blossoms that always followed Goddesses around.

There were two ways to get to Kamiki Village from Agata and both led through Shinshu Field. One was to take the road through the tunnel that was once Agata Port. The tunnel used to be a river running between Agata and Shinshu. A boat ran on it that you could take but the Forest Guardian, Karude, had told her that he'd needed to close the port due to high water levels. It was still accessible but she'd need to swim. The second required more effort and wasn't known to everyone. To get up there, you had to scale a steep cliff wall above Agata Port. There was then a second tunnel _above _the Agata Port tunnel that would lead you to the top of another cliff face above Shinshu. Breeza sighed. She really didn't want to get wet, so her only option was to scramble up the hill.

This wasn't really a problem for her but she would need to use her true fox form. Foxes are much better at scrabbling up hills than delicate maidens. Breeza, goddess of children and travellers was a Kitsune, a messenger and servant of Amaterasu. Since she was over two-hundred years old, she had long since learned how to take human form. However, like most Kitsune, she struggled to hide her tail. Taking her Hoshi no Tama, a round white ball that gave off a faint glow of stardust, she stared into it, holding it in her cupped hands.

Slowly, the stardust spread up through her fingertips up to her arms. It gave her a slight tingling feeling as it ran through her neck, spreading up and down; briefly blanketing her in silver light. She felt her body shrinking down in size and sprouting ghost white fur. The scattering of red markings were a token of her godhood. Breeza was quite a young Kitsune, having only one tail. However she was long past the early stage when transformations were painful. She shook herself slightly, admiring her silky paws. The clothes that had fallen off her much smaller figure, she stuffed into her satchel. She turned and careful placed her starry gem onto her tail, where she carried it during her travels.

Deftly she hopped up from ledge, finding four feet easier to balance with. _Gives you more grip_, she thought. Her tail, too, provided extra balance reassurance. The escarpment was like frozen wrinkles on sea, which gave her easy footholds. Slipping only slightly, she wrenched herself onto the top. She was panting hard but sat up quickly and moved on.

She enjoyed the cool feeling of the summer grass between her delicate and sensitive paws. Since carrying her satchel, even in fox form wasn't too difficult she decided to remain this way. She padded towards the tunnel appreciating the cool rest from the harvest heat. The tunnel was never dark. The celestial light given off by her Hoshi no Tama lit the way. However, as she neared the end of the tunnel leading out onto the beautiful Shinshu field, she couldn't hear birds. She couldn't hear water. She couldn't even hear the wind. It was quiet.

Hushed as the grave.

Almost immediately, the goddess knew something was wrong. As the realisation hit her, she recognised the silence. It was a quietude which seemed to hum and resonate menacingly within her. Sure enough, as she glanced cautiously around, she saw a Demon Scroll. The hovering green scroll was a familiar of Yamata no Orochi, the evil eight-headed serpent. The scroll itself was not living but inside it would be an enemy, a monster sent by Orochi to cause havoc for mortals. This is where a Peace Bell would have been useful. If she had had a Peace Bell, she could've passed by this dangerous interruption. Breeza was not a coward; she was, in fact, a very strong and clever combatant, however she was in a hurry and did not wish her journey to be delayed any longer. In this case, she had no choice. She stepped cautiously towards the Demon Scroll. In a flash, a barrier incantation had ensnared Breeza and the opponent. Demon Scrolls were made this way so that only one of the opponents would make it out.

However, Breeza quickly noticed that her adversary was not the common Green Imp or even the rare Thunder Ear but was a Kuda-Kitsune; a Pipe Fox. Breeza hesitated, a Pipe Fox was no challenge to her, and was frequently used by Amaterasu herself. She examined the Pipe Fox quickly, it was a small spirit, and young too; only one tail and clearly not able to transform into human form. She noticed something off about it… Its colouring was a nasty cream yellow and lacked the markings that made him a God.

Too late, Breeza realized that this was a Nogitsune, an evil fox spirit and nuisance to Amaterasu. The Nogitsune swiped at Breeza with a claw and slashed her shoulder. The only reason it had missed her throat was due to her quick reflexes. Her shoulder burned like a wave of icy fire. She leapt back, guarding with her tail. However, the Nogitsune did not attack again. It laughed cruelly, like a firework, and vanished in wisp of smoke.

Confused, and in pain, Breeza crawled towards the mysterious and smoking tube left behind. Slowly, she unrolled it and read the sinister calligraphy inside.

"Yamata no Orochi sends his regards to Ōkami Amaterasu."


End file.
